Don't Feed The Freaks
by le error
Summary: Short story of the turtles being raised in captivity. Contains fluff and abuse. There's a happy ending though, don't worry.


They woke up every morning to the sound of a loud bang against the bars of their cage. The youngest would wake, startled and crying. The others would groggily follow, also upset and teary. The human would go inside their exhibit every morning and clean their home and feed them. They say they looked the same so they tagged them with different colored bands on their little arms. They would check on the youngest first before going to the rest. Basic care and rough treatment. They handled them too hard and dropped the red one on the the ground which made a crack in his plastron. Were they male? They never really bothered to check.

They were animals in a pen for entertainment at a zoo.

The mutant's exhibit was small and wasn't much room for the children. They were small still and didn't vent away from one another. They were practically climbing on top of one another to stick together.

The blue one huddled closely to the orange one, the young one. Whenever the orange one would cry, the blue turtle would latch on to him and pull him into a comforting hold.

The red one was sick and curled up weakly next to the blue. His head was retracted a little into his shell as he slept and shivered. The purple would often be up against the glass, looking back at the humans who watched in amazement and awe at his appearance. The lankiest was the only one who dared to come near the glass before getting afraid and crawled back.

Even though they were the most wondrous sight to see, they hardly did much. They were still babies, without guidance and a nurturing figure. The humans would interact with them rarely and only handled them for medical needs such has shots. They were ugly, hideous freaks put on display for the fun.

They were terrified since the day they hatched.

They had decided to give them names. Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey. They put the names out in front of the display screen for the others to read with their colors. Leo was blue. Leo was the second thinnest and older looking one. Raph was red. The short, hulky looking devil with the most temper. Donnie was purple. The most curious and thinnest of them. Little Mikey was orange and also the youngest. He was also the most vocal but often timid around the humans.

The humans did..bad things to them.

Donnie was by the glass again, staring back at the humans who were pointing and smiling. His eyes widen a little as he caught the sight of one of them. It was small girl with bright orange hair. She was staring at him but not like the others were. He moved a little to face her but ended up tripping and falling over. When he lifted himself up from the ground, the girl was gone.

Night time was the best time for them. Nobody bothered them.

Leo patted Raph's shell as he coughed loudly and hiccuped. He was curled up in the hay along with the rest of his brothers. Leo wasn't tired. He wanted to go by the glass like he saw Donnie do. He crawled up to the glass cautiously. His heart beat pounded loudly into his ears as he moved closer, his legs felt like jello and before he could even touch the glass—

"NNaahh!" Mikey cried out in his sleep from another nightmare. His face contorted into what looked like pain and distress. His hands balled into fist and held them up to his chest. Fat tear drops fell from his eyes as he struggled against the plague of nightmares. Leo quickly scurried back to Mikey and laid next to him. He hugged Mikey close to him and snuggled him till he stopped crying.

Maybe..next time he could touch the glass?

"Let me look at it."

Leo reached out to lightly move Raph's head to the side to see the wound. The humans struck him when he tried biting one of them. Raph didn't like to be touched by the humans but they weren't shy to retaliate back.

The wound was bleeding and Raph was holding back tears from the pain. Leo pushed Raph down to lay on the hay that they used as a bed then moved next to him. Leo began to lick at the wound, coating his tongue with his brother's blood and healing the wound slowly. Raph had closed his eyes and growled but let his brother work. Mikey curiously crawled over and grabbed on to Raph's arm to cuddle with. The youngest was still sporting a black eye from yesterday.

The humans were getting more violent as they got older. They learned everything on their own even the human's language. Donnie proved to be smarter than the humans had given him credit for.

That's why took it out on him the most.

They could hear Mikey's loud sobbing coming through the darkness. Where? They didn't know. Leo could hear Raph screaming back out of panic and worry for the youngest turtle. Leo was mostly quiet because he was terrified of the dark. He didn't want to be alone and in darkness.

They were packed into crates and now they were moving. Leo wasn't sure how long the journey was but his whole body was cramped and aching.

When they finally stopped, their crates were opened. Raph recoiled back into his and hissed sharply at the humans that crowded around them. They studied the red turtle's behavior before shooting a dart into his thigh. Raph collapsed in his cart.

Mikey was dragged out and wrapped up tightly in a warm towel. Donnie was also helped out because of his injuries. Leo was last to be moved out. He saw the gun and panicked. He felt something hit his shoulder and yelped. Before he could take it out, he fell into a heavy sleep.

For the first time ever, Donnie got to hear his little brother laugh. Mikey was enjoying a small bath filled with bubbles and nice warm water. Donnie watched as the human rubbed at his brother's head to clean him. He wasn't rough or mean like the other humans were. He was more gentle and kind. A female came to dry Mikey off before setting him down next to him. Mikey was still smiling as he moved closer to Donnie to hug him and nuzzle him. It wasn't long before Mikey wanted to play fight and began to bite him and growl. They never had the energy to play with one another.

Their cages were brighter and more nicer. Definitely more bigger. There was soft grass under their feet and fresh water. Their bedding was comfortable and soft. The food tasted different at first but they eventually got use to it.

Raph and Donnie were the ones that were having trouble adapting the most. Mikey and Leo basked in the gentle pets and strokes from the humans. Mikey loved to be held and carried around like a baby. Leo was still a little timid and skittish but overly loved to be stroked on his shell.

Donnie believed this all to end soon. Maybe just a nice little dream then they would return back to their hay beds and cramped home.

"Daddy! I wanna pet him!"

"Noo, not yet, sweetie. Just look at them from here, okay?"

The man from before was holding on to his daughter, holding her back as she bounced around happily. Donnie's eyes lite up at the sight of the girl. It was the one he remembered from before back at his old home. He got himself up to sit, his eyes wide and fully curious as he stared. The little girl smiled and waved to him excitedly. Donnie scooted closer, his smile grew as he watched the pair interact and listened to her giggle.

Before she left, he waved hello to her with a floppy wrist and a toothy grin.


End file.
